How could it be, he asked, that his two selectors Mikey Sheehy and Diarmuid Murphy, legends both, wouldn't be allowed on the sideline with him for Munster championship games in Fitzgerald Stadium? The Munster Council were strictly enforcing the GAA's restrictions on the numbers of team personnel on the sideline, Sheehy and Murphy the most obvious victims.

You can understand the impulse of the GAA to crack down on the numbers of people on sidelines. It can reach farcical proportions at times. The dangers of flashpoints well known. The thing is though it's largely a problem at club level, not inter-county.

Go to most club games and the problem is the same as it ever was – guys on the sidelines, not selectors, not club secretary, not water boys. Most just stand and watch passively, others stick their oar in, roaring and shouting, abusing referees. That's what the GAA should focus on, not pointless gestures like with Sheehy and Murphy.